Taking advantage of the flexible, modular design of the Cisco Aironet® 3600 Series Access Point, the Cisco® 802.11ac Module delivers the industry's first enterprise-class implementation of next-generation Wi-Fi connectivity, as defined by the IEEE 802.11ac Wave 1 draft specification.

Delivering up to three times the maximum data rate of today's high-end, enterprise 802.11n access points, the Wi-Fi Alliance ™ (WFA) Certified 802.11ac Module provides enterprise networks with more reliability and superior performance by supporting up to three spatial-stream and 80-MHz-wide channels for a maximum data rate of 1.3 Gbps.

• 802.11ac with 3 x 3 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, with three spatial streams, which sustains 1.3-Gbps rates over a greater range for more capacity and reliability than competing access points
• With the Dynamic Channel usage 802.11ac can utilize an 80- MHz-wide channel and dynamically contract in real-time based on network characteristics
• The module provides MIMO-equalization-optimized uplink performance and reliability by minimizing the impact of signal fade
• 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) providing a 30 percent more efficient use of the wireless spectrum
• Cisco CleanAir® technology, providing proactive, high-speed spectrum intelligence to combat performance problems due to wireless interference
• Explicit Compressed Beamforming (ECBF) technology option to improve performance in both directions (when the 802.11ac device also supports ECBF) including one-, two-, and three-spatial-stream devices on 802.11ac while improving battery life on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets

The innovative modular design allows any existing Cisco Aironet 3600 Series Access Points to be field-upgraded and immediately expand the available bandwidth for new 802.11ac devices while supporting all your traditional wireless devices on 802.11a/b/g/n.

This flexibility allows companies to grow their network bandwidth dynamically as it is needed, whether for pervasive coverage or spot coverage based on the high-bandwidth demands of their user base - for example, areas of high user congregation such as libraries, cafeterias, auditoriums. Companies have full control for how, where, and when to expand their wireless network.